The Lakers apparently are going to renew their push to acquire disgruntled Magic center Dwight Howard. But before any deal would be finalized, the Lakers would need Howard to make a long-term commitment to them.

Which brings us back to the essential question: What does Dwight want?

Howard has one piece of leverage: If he rules out a long-term deal with the Lakers, then he prevents a trade to the Lakers.

But that decision could come at a price.

If Howard rules out the Lakers, he faces the following options, all of them potentially unpleasant:

(1) Going to the Houston Rockets: The Rockets still are willing to acquire Howard without receiving a long-term commitment from him first. But if he does go to Houston, he will face all the same questions he faced last season in Orlando about his future. You’ve got to believe he doesn’t want that.

(2) Starting training camp as a member of the Magic: Publicly, anyway, Orlando general manager Rob Hennigan hasn’t ruled out beginning training camp in early October with Howard still on the roster. But the bridges between Howard and the franchise appear to have been torched. If camp begins with Howard on the Magic roster, things could get ugly, especially if Howard’s back is giving him problems or if he plays a preseason game at Amway Center and is booed.

(3) More damage to his image: The longer this process drags on, the longer he stays in the news for all the wrong reasons. The sooner his future gets resolved, the sooner he can repair his image.

Howard will have to weigh these possibilities as he decides his next step.

Hennigan already had been planning to attend the NBA Summer League.

The new Magic GM has been in touch with the Lakers, the Rockets and the Hawks at some point over the last week.

There’s no reason why a face-to-face meeting with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak should be more fruitful than a phone conversation — unless Howard has decided he’s receptive to joining the Lakers.

If Howard still is intent on joining the Nets, there’s no realistic scenario in which he’d be traded to Brooklyn before Jan. 15, the first day that Brook Lopez becomes trade-eligible.

If Howard relents and decides he would commit long-term to the Lakers, the Magic could work out a three-team deal that would send Howard to L.A., Andrew Bynum to Houston and draft picks and young players to Orlando.